Top of the Pops, 15th May 1980:
Legs & Co. dance to Just Can’t Give You Up by Mystic Merlin.
Two performances for the price of one here: electronically matted into the background are Legs & Co. dressed as angels, although their wings are sometimes difficult to make out agains the washed out white background. Meanwhile in the foreground, they’re dancing in… cat outfits? Well, their ears would definitely suggest cats, but what about the context? Contrasting with angels, a set design of stylised flames, and a flaming backdrop whenever the angels disappear?
Were these cats originally devils perhaps? Did some producer decide agains having devils represented in a family show? Difficult to believe, since the whole crazy “Satanic Abuse” panic didn’t really get going until the next year.
Anyway, if the decision to ban the devil outfits was taken late in the day, a cat outfit would probably be the easiest adaptation to make: keep the tail, change the ears, voila! This might also explain the washed-out overdosed nature of the “angels” routine, a deliberate attempt to hide the wings and de-emphasise the angels reference.
Or is my imagination running away with me, just a bit?
Thanks to ASmK for the YouTube post.
